Eight trains suspended on Kotri-Dadu-Rohri section

The Pakistan Railways (PR) has curtailed the number of passenger trains on important Kotri-Dadu-Rohri section from the existing mere strength of 10 to only just two, causing immense problems for passengers. Last year 10 passenger trains were active on this busy section of interior Sindh, which was widely used by devotees of Lal Shahbaz Qalander. However, presently only two trains namely Bolan Mail and Khushal Khan Khattak Express were running on this section. The same trains also ran operations during night hours and were often five to six hours late. There are hundreds of towns and villages situated on both sides of the Kotri-Dadu-Rohri section, but a huge population of the area was forced to use the expensive option of private road-based transport in the absence of trains. Dozens of big and small railway stations were also established on this section including Kotri, Sindh University, Sehwan Sharif, Dadu, Radhan, Mohenjodaro, Larkana, Habibkot, Sukkur and Rohri. Platform vendors of these railway stations were facing huge capital losses due to the stoppage of passenger trains, while local traders also shared the woes of other people whose livelihood depended on the smooth flow of trains through this section. It is pertinent to mention here that every day thousands of people visit the shrine of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalander at Sehwan Sharif and the discontinuation of train services was also compelling them to travel in private buses and coaches after paying higher fares to the transporters. Some official sources have said that rampant corruption in the railways department was the main cause of halting trains on this section. They further said that the railway police and ticket checkers allowed passengers to travel on the train without buying tickets if the passengers paid them 20 to 30 percent the original prize of the ticket. Due to rampant corruption in the railways department, the railway department was not receiving proper revenue, as hardly 5 to 10 percent passengers using these trains bought tickets. Locals have expressed grave concern over the closure of right passenger trains on this highly lucrative section and demanded of the PR and Railway Police to stop corruption in the department.